SL 8: Spanish Civil War

Spain's Downfall after Age of Discovery

* S owned everything until

1. Napoleon took spain and colonies revolted

- caused independence, never colonized again (Peru, Chile, etc,)

2. USA monroe doctrine (couldnt stop LAC revolts), Span-Am War (USA took Philippines, Cuba, PR, Guam)

3. gold/silver extraction: didnt need to indiustrialize, now behind

* only remaining colony was Morocco

* during WW1, no army/navy, depended on feeding allies

Splits

• Regional: Basques/Catalans/Galicians, cultural diff

• Economics: north industry, south agriculture

  • agricultural people in the south made money seasonly

    • bankers, military, monarchy, clergy, and rich landowners

• left = republicans/communists/workers

  • low wages, long hours, weak unions

• right = nationalists/landlords/church/army/monarchy

  • Church funded by monarchy

    • military strong bc colonialism, but poor thought it weak bc lost colonies

Moroccan Problems

• trouble w/M, S conscripts. poor mad, revol- mad at church for dodging draft

• Semana Tragica (1919): Army killed revolters

• Battle of Anual: poorly trained S sent to M. 13K Spaniard troops lost to 3K Moroccan troops while King was vacationing in France

  • Masses blame King Alfonso XIII

• fear of terrorism and commie rev caused Gen Miguel Primo de Rivera to lead coup

  • king left in const, monarchy

• Rivera bankrupt, lost support

Timeline of pedulum swing

1. King- conservative

2. abdicates --> spanish rep (liberal)

3. lose election --> black 2 years (right)

4. miners strike put down --> popular front (left)

5. franco starts war --> franco wins (right in power)

Spanish Rep. Born

* 1931: ppl want elections. king abdicates

* Changes:

1. Separation bw Church & State

• nobility not above law, dont control property or education

2. Freedom of Speech & Association

3. Women's Suffrage + Divorce

4. Nationalized land, banks, railways, public services

5. military officers retire BUT only 50% did. rest become more R-wing

• they were bribed

6. Autonomous regions given own govs

Party Divisions: Republicans

• LEFT/LIBERALS!!!!!!

  • communists

• seen as “democracy”

• band together (to keep majority) over hate of fascists and church

Party Divisions: Nationalists

* RIGHT/CONSERVATIVES!!!!!!

* fight to save cath spain from "commies"

* church against left bc they have church (anti clerical laws, burn churches)

* landowners/industry fear property confiscation/land reform

* military wants order

Why did Left lose election

• spanish rep left loses 1933 election BC:

  • women's voting rights (bc some women were too liberal)

  • Casas Viejas incident (1933): L-wing gov (communists) kill anarchists, pop front left now split

    • right mad abt land confiscation, right sabotaged food, causes famine, blamed on left

    • right had $$$ to campaign

    • Black (fascists are reigning for) 2 years

Black Two Years

• 1933-6: RIGHT/CONSERVATIVE GOV

• nationalized stuff sold back to rich <– because they’re fascist and ❤ private property

• left military disappear

• church gets education

• Asturian Miners Strike (1934): Franco’s Moroccan army used to put down civillian strike (brutal)

Popular Front 1936

• USSR's ComIntern gets L back in power

  • saw nazis won bc left was fractured so forms pop front in S (left doesnt run against each other)

• manuel azaña lead REPUBLICANS/LEFT

  • peasants, loyal military, marxist workers, international brigades (USSR/Mexico)

    • international brigades: volunteers from countries

    • Cárdenas led the communists in Mexico (not outright communist but close ENUFF)

  • lack training

Francisco Franco

* crushes Asturian miners strike

* banished to canary islands when lefts wins in 1936

* plans coup: rogue GB MI6 fly him to Morocco, gets army his own Morroccan rebel army (same from Asturian Miners’ Strike) vs Left, Hitler flied him (+30k army) to Sevilla while right took 1/3 of Spain

• can’t use Navy because controlled by Republicans

* SCW begins

International Inaction

• world was also facing facism vs democracy and capitalists vs communists. SO:

  • Non-Intervention Agreement of 1936: F/GB/USSR/G/Ita

  • Can’t trust Ita, USSR, and G (they’re always switching it up 😜)

• USA isolationist BUT US/GB secretly want Nationalist (Franco) to win (very anti commie/socialist)

  • GB let nationalists use Gibraltar + gave loans (didnt want GB Spanish assets nationalized)

  • came from the Treaty of Utrecht

    • wanted to stop all imports getting to communists

  • indirectly helping

• Non-Intervention stopped official aid to R+made it illegal to volunteer for R (bc USSR aided left/republicans)

Fascist Support:

• Germany:

  • 16,000 men; 600 planes; 200 Tanks

• flew Franco to Sevilla

  • Condor Legions took care of North S

    • Basque

  • wanted F to worry ab 2 front war+wants resources

• Ita:

  • 75,000 men; 660 planes; 900 tanks

  • Blockaded republican ports

• Salazar's Portugal:

  • 12,000 Troops

  • Fascist snuck in through Portugal

Republican's/LEFT International Brigades

• USSR

  • 2,500 men; 1,000 planes; 900 tanks

  • took S gold for planes/tanks to left

  • stalin busy killing trotskyists

• Mexico:

  • Lazaro Cárdenas

    • $2m + war materials

    • only public support

• International Brigades: 30k from around the world

  • under command of USSR

  • snuck in through F

Effects of Intervention

1. SCW considered "rehearsal" for WWII

2. USSR: Soviets lost respect from West commies bc of little help + gold theft

3. Fascists: gained military lessons (civillian bombing)

• with love from Italy + Germany xx

4. GB/F: Appeasement in SCW caused Hitler aggression

5. USA: (After WWII) allied w/Franco vs USSR

• famous US artists joined left: Orwell, Hemingway, Guthrie

Course of SCW

• Franco lands in Sevilla and reach F border (cuts of Catalonia from Basque

  • condor legions bombs basque (guernica)

• franco takes north, focuses on Catalonia

• LEFT: madrid defends whole war

  • Aragon Offensive (close to barca): weakens left defense so Franco splits Catalonia

• Battle of the Ebro: left attempt to unsplit Catalonia, failed bc morale drop after GB/F appeasement official with CzSl's Munich Agreement

• Franco wins

Republicans lose

* 1939, Catalonia conquered

* GB/F recognized Franco

- republicans/left surrender, get executed or flee to France

* Why did they lose?

1) No Central command

2) Infighting

3) Insufficient arms

4) Poor fighting capability unlike Moroccan/Ita army

5) GB/FR/USA afraid to support communism & anti-clericalism

Effects of War:

* White Terror 1939: mass murder of left. 200k dead

- children "reeducated"; 10k sent to G conc camps

* Spanish economy destroyed with industry gone and debt to G/Ita

* Franco will remain in power until 1975

- no activism or autonomous regions

- everyone speak spanish

- secret police

- tortue/disappear dissenters